The Board denied service connection for all the claimed conditions as there was no evidence to support a causal relationship between any of these disabilities and the Veteran's active duty service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran failed to report for necessary VA scheduled examinations, and the evidence did not demonstrate that the disabilities were incurred in or are causally related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- recurrent sores over the scalp, ischemic heart disability, to include heart attack, stent, double bypass, and bradycardia, skin disability, diabetes mellitus, acquired psychiatric disorder, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, thickening of the abdominal aortic wall, esophagitis, claimed as esophageal reflux disease and salivary lesions, pancreatitis, hypothyroidism, cystic diseases of the kidneys
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 11, 2025
- Citation
- 25007781
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a deviated septum and denied compensable ratings for allergic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, hypothyroidism, and hypertension.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for hypertension and diabetes mellitus to obtain further medical opinions regarding their potential relationship to toxic exposures during active service.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for hypothyroidism, as it is presumptively linked to herbicide agent exposure during the Veteran's service in Vietnam.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for right foot, left elbow, left hip, left ankle, and diabetes mellitus to obtain additional medical evidence.
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